To CHI or not to CHI?! That is the question ....

So as i mentioned in my previous post I am going to do a quick review of all the CHI products I own and have used and what i have thought about them. This was spurred on initially by Lazalu who asked what i thought of CHI products but secondly by my visit to the Hairdressers!

First of all, let me tell you what I have. From left to right we have, Silk Infusion; Straight Guard ;Keratin Mist; Nourish Intense; 44 Iron Guard; Volume Boost; Helmet Head and finally, Infra Texture.Let me also tell you that I am usually very faithful to good old Kerastase - its a dream for my hair but when i seen the CHI collection go half price or less at Sally's I thought it was a great opportunity to try something new. And its always good to switch it about anyway.

Silk Infusion - This is called a 'silk reconstructing complex'. Now when I first purchased this i was told to put it on my hair after blowdrying and before straightening as it acted as a guard against the heat of your straighteners. I did this using a very very small amount (I cannot stress this enough, the tiniest dollop goes a long way) ... but found that it made straightening my hair feel a little grainy, which is never the case as I use GHDs - my ultimate hair tool! I swear by them. Once I had finished my hair actually seemed a little frizzy with little frazzled bits of hair sticking out all over the place. Not impressed. However, I then tried it again after i had blowdryed and straightened as normal ... i used it to almost set the finish and add a bit of shine and sleekness to the hair and it worked a dream. It made my hair feel glossy, smooth and tug free. So, used the way the professionals advised i would give it a 2/10 but using my own method i would give it an 8/10

Straight Guard - So i use this once i have washed my hair and again only use a very small amount. I work it through my damp hair before blowdrying and I can honestly say that I notice a difference on how straight my hair appears even after only drying. Please be aware, I have slightly wavy hair so I always use straighteners but with this product I actually spend less time using the GHDs so I was pretty impressed with this. However, use too much of this and your hair will feel heavy. All in all i would give it a 7/10

Keratin Mist - this is a leave-in strengthening treatment. Ok, so i have only used this product once. I used it after washing when my hair was damp and I style as normal. I noticed after straightening that my hair felt a little heavy and ever so slightly coarse. Although in a sense it still felt strengthened it was almost as if it was a little dirty. Hence the reason i have never used it again. Although, I may try it again soon to see if there is a difference this time. So for now its a 3/10

Nourish Intense - This is described as a hydrating silk bath. I had high hopes for this as I love a good conditioning treatment. I usually use Kerastase Masquintese and find it works a dream so was hoping this would be even better. Instead i found my hair to feel heavy, coarse and a little grainy when styling afterwards. I felt really let down by this product and like Keratin Mist i have only used it once. But with this one I do not think i will be trying again. So thats a 2/10

44 Iron Guard - Hmmm to be honest this just made my hair feel sticky. I sprayed a small amount on each section of my hair before straightening and i felt that i really had to tug the straighteners through to the ends of my hair instead of it gliding with ease. Disappointed! But I may try it again just to be sure its not just me. 2/10

Helmet Head - So this is an 'extra firm spritz' which is to be used for creating voluminous styles that stay in place. I used this on a night i was off out and knew my hair needed some oomph but also to be kept in place. So i chose the Bloc Party concert - lots of jumping about to be done! I had quiffed my hair to within an inch of its life and set about using the spritz. The bottle says it is fast drying which is true but it leaves little droplets of the product everywhere which seemed impossible to get rid of without ruining my quiff. On a good note it almost looked like sparkle in my hair but by the end of the night, my hair seemed a little dull and bits of my quiff kept falling out so all night I was constantly pushing it back up into place. This never happens when I use Elnette so......... 3/10

Infra Texture - this is a fast drying hair spray that is supposed to also help the hair shine. When i spray it on I almost feel like there is nothing there so I need to be careful not to spray too much. I would say it does a pretty good job and helps stop frizz too so it should be ideal for hot summer nights but I can't help think that Elnette is still a little better. I am going to keep on using this though as i like the light application of it. 7/10

Volume Boost - I don't think i took a picture of this but with this you spray to the roots of your hair when still damp then style as usual. One thing i can say is that it really does give good volume! But if you use too much of the product hair can feel really heavy. I think to perfect anything with CHI products - less is definitely more. The only downside so far to this is sometimes i notice my scalp looking really shiny and think it is from the product sticking. Not that this is a big deal. 8/10

So thats what i think of all my products, however when at the hairdressers this week, my hair fairy noticed my roots being really dry and that a lot of colour had been stripped from my hair. This never usually is the case. My hair is in good condition and my colour (red on red) just fades naturally and gradually over every 6 weeks. She asked what I had been doing differently and the only thing is CHI!!! Yikes!! So, from the products I do not like so much, I will discontinue use. Problem is I am not sure which product has been causing the damage or if its a few of them or all of them! For now, I will stick to silk infusion, infra texture and sometimes the volume boost and see how my hair fairs over the next 6 weeks.

I hope this has been helpful. Everyones hair is different so I am sure CHI is ideal for others but for me it isn't as impressive as i thought it was going to be.

What do you guys think? Do you use it? Have you had similar issues with it at all?